By Erika Carrubba
After two months and 26 games the volleyball season has come down to one weekend, a must-win game Saturday against Hofstra at 5 p.m. and luck.
“With good luck we are in the postseason,” senior captain Brandie Genibrel said. “You can’t depend on luck in sports, too.”
The Huskies helped themselves with a 3-2 (30-23, 25-30, 25-30, 30-27, 15-10) win Friday against visiting Delaware.
NU (11-15) won the first game of the match, but almost let it slip away as they dropped the next two games.
Genibrel came through in game four, recording eight of her 16 kills in the game. The momentum carried through in game five as they set the Fighting Blue Hens down 15-10.
Genibrel set a career high in digs (27) and was one of five players with double-digit kills. Junior Whitney Turner led the team with 17 kills and freshman Lauren DeTurk had 15.
“We have been playing strong defense all year, but we have finally been in one rotation for a few weeks and it helped our chemistry,” coach Ken Nichols said.
Northeastern looked to improve their chances of earning the sixth and last postseason spot against Towson.
The Tigers, the third-place team in the Colonial Athletic Association, had beaten first-place Hofstra the night before.
The Huskies again went five games before dropping the match 3-2 (30-24, 30-28, 28-30, 26-30, 15-9). They lost the first game despite hitting .389 and leading early in the game. In the second game, NU held the lead until the Tigers tied it at 26. A Genibrel kill tied the game at 28 before Towson won the game on a Husky attack error.
“I am upset at the second game. We had the opponent. We can get away with sitting back against average teams, but not against the Hofstras or the Towsons,” Nichols said.
In game three, the Huskies fell behind 15-14, but scored five of the next six points to take a lead they would not relinquish. They held Towson to a .048 attack percentage in the frame. Northeastern used 20 kills in game four to come from behind and force a fifth game.
“It was a competitive match. We just struggled a little at the end,” Nichols said.
Towson dominated the game, taking a 6-5 lead on a Husky service error. They scored five of the next six points and went on to win the game 15-9.
“We needed to put everything on the line to win this weekend,” Genibrel said. “I have been playing for 10 years and this is what it comes down to for me; it’s really hard.”
DeTurk registered 15 kills and Batura set a career high with 40 digs. Junior Ivana Pavlisin had 35 assists and junior Chelsea Carroll had 26.
Northeastern currently sits in seventh place.
Only the top six teams go to the playoffs. The Huskies need to beat Hofstra and James Madison must lose to Towson and Delaware to give NU a chance of going to the CAA playoffs.
“We need to win more games than James Madison, so they have to lose this weekend. If we end up in a tie at the end of the season it comes down to head-to-head matchups and who has won more games,” Nichols said. “If we had won against them at their place we wouldn’t even be in this situation.”
